The invention relates to a method for the electrical testing of equipotential lines. The invention can be applied notably to the testing of the electrical continuity or electrical insulation of wiring racks, card trays, electrical packages or printed circuits for example. More generally, it can be applied to the testing of all equipment for which it is necessary to check the electrical continuity or electrical insulation of the equipotential lines.
Items of electrical, electronic or data-processing equipment such as computers, for example, comprise a growing number of printed circuits as well as complex circuits that possess an ever-increasing number of inputs/outputs. This results in a growing number of equipotential lines connecting these inputs/outputs. Since the components or the cards are linked to other components or cards, these equipotential lines go through connectors connecting, for example, the cards to one another by means of tray bottoms or by case bottoms. These tray or case bottoms therefore have many connecting equipotential lines. A necessary condition for the efficient operation of the equipment is the electrical continuity of the equipotential lines that come into play, as well as the insulation between them.
There are instruments to test this continuity and this insulation. These instruments are connected to testing points generally located at the level of the connectors. These links are used for the successive testing of the sections of equipotential lines located between testing points.
Now, the above-mentioned tests on the electrical continuity and insulation of the above-mentioned items of equipment require a growing number of testing points, for example more than 8,000 testing points, in order to reach the maximum capacities of present-day testers. It is possible to increase the capacities of these testers, but this means paying the price of extra cost, complexity and a substantial amount of space occupied.